When Words Escape Us
by lindsiebee42
Summary: All Lana had left to do after the big battle was heal the ones who were damaged, but she has a secret up her sleeve that might have caused the last battle.  The Darkness isn't gone, and anyone who once touched it isn't going to back down without a fight.
1. What Was Left Unsaid

**Hi guys, thanks for reading, second story, might make it a long one...takes place after lies...its what happens after the darkness is destroyed, but all the people who were somehow touched by it know its not yada yada and so on. So i was originally going to make it for Lana but i decided to do more people, just mostly from Lana, tell me how you like it, reviews are welcome, more then welcomed, constructive criticism too! Not picky! **

**DISCLAIMER-I DO NOT OWN GONE**

**Thanks for reading - Lindsey (^.^) **

Lana lay looking at her hands, how could they posses so much power? She was on a five minute break. Healing people all day wasn't exactly part of her plan when she was riding over here with her grandfather. She shuddered at the thought. That day. That awful day. She was trapped in the FAYZ, under a car. Patrick was all she had left and even he was almost gone. But she healed Patrick, healed herself, with these hands. The hands of unlimited power. The power to heal, the power to kill, the power to bring back Drake, the power to shoot Edilio, the power to create a body for the darkness, the power to make Drake and Brittany one, and the power to almost destroy the world she lived in. It wasn't Lana alone; it was anyone who was touched by the darkness. His thoughts had never left her. She knew he was still there. He was inside of her, and somehow she knew it was just as bad for Caine and this creature he called nemesis. But Lana didn't want to think about it anymore. This was the first moment she had been alone since the fire. So many kids were injured that it almost pained her. But almost was the key word; Lana had gone through too much to even begin to feel this emotion. She had healed too many kids, lived a crash that should have killed her, and lived with the darkness inside of her, using her body as a pawn. The only kids it pained her to see were the ones who had been whipped. The darkness made her…made her bring back drake. If Lana wasn't there, these kids wouldn't have been in this condition. The least she could do was sit. And heal. And wait for the darkness to be gone. What scared Lana is that she knew its power and she wasn't sure if he would be gone any time soon.

* * *

Zil stared at the mess that was left of the FAYZ. His plan had not worked; the council had more control then ever now. He was lucky not to be in jail, the rules hadn't been created yet. So Zil just stared at the mess he saw, the mess he created. It was going so perfectly, with Nerezza by his side, so beautiful, so willing to help. But this girl was this so called darkness that everyone talks about. The darkness that haunted Lana, Orsay and the mega-freak Caine, that gave drake his arm, that made Lana shoot Edilio. Well good riddance, they are all freaks after all, even though Lana is the healer, she is still a freak. But Nerezza was the Gaiaphage? Had she played Zil for a fool? Gotten into his head just as the darkness did to the freaks? The Gaiaphage must be the biggest freak of all, having even a power that even Caine fears. So how could Zil side with a freak? No, he wouldn't believe it, Nerezza was just as determined as he was to stop the freaks, wasn't she? She couldn't be a freak herself; he would never like a freak. And the freaks wanted to rule Perido Beach, after all the council was made of freaks and freak lovers. It disgusted him. Zil wanted to march in there and give them a piece of his mind. Zil, with the help of Nerezza had simply been protecting the humans. No, Nerezza might be a freak, the Gaiaphage, he would not associate himself with he…it. Zil had been protecting the humans, he had been bettering the FAYZ, and that's all that mattered, right?

* * *

John Terrafino was now in charge of the day care. There was so much work, too much work, and not enough people to do it. With Mary gone the day care just wasn't the same. How could she do this? She had promised John that she wouldn't leave him. Maybe promises don't mean the same thing in the FAYZ. Mary is gone, Francis is gone, and no one wants the horrid job of working at the day care. Not like this, not now, not after the kids are all scared, having nightmares and memories of when Mary led them off the cliff. What in her right mind possessed her to do this? Somehow John knew that Mary wasn't free, he really wished she was out of the FAYZ, but something possessed him to think she wasn't. After all, Nerezza wasn't who she appeared to be and with Orsay gone we may never know. But John knew, Mary was his sister, and somehow let the darkness get the better of her. Well john knew what to did, he had to stop the darkness, get Mary back, and save his loving sister. The only question was how, he has seen what the darkness does to people, it makes them crazy, and Mary was crazy enough.

* * *

Caine sat up straight on the couch across from Diana, neither of them speaking a word. Penny sat watching a movie in the main living room a couple of rooms over. And for all Caine knew, Bug could be sitting next to him.

"Diana…" Caine whispered looking up at her. She was beautiful, Caine even thought so before they got to this island. With her scurvy going away, she looked more alive, her hair was fuller, but her personality went away by the second. That was something Caine didn't know how to fix, and there was defiantly no one like Diana out there that he could take advice from.

Diana hardly glanced at Caine, she didn't answer, didn't want to answer.

"Diana, please, we have food, you're healthy, what else do you want?" Caine would do anything just to hear her voice again. Even being the manipulative witch she was, Diana wasn't evil, and Caine can't even remember the last nice word she said after she tried to…Caine didn't want to imagine Diana plummeting off the cliff again. It was the second time she came close to dying; Caine didn't blame her for feeling so screwed up. The last thing she had said was that she loved him, and Caine knew those feelings were still there.

"I want to leave, I want you to stop." Diana muttered softly, not bringing up her eyes. No snarky remark, no scowling glance, just plain words without meaning. But Caine got more than he bargained for.

"I knew you were bad Caine, I'm just as bad, but I didn't think you were evil. You and Drake, you're just like each other, you _deserve_ each other." Those were the only words that could really crush Caine. Drake had tried to kill Diana, so Caine killed him. Caine killed him, and somehow he saw Drake again.

"You're not even listening! Typical…" Diana looked up, pained, then went back to staring at the floor.

"I let them go." Caine whispered, obviously hurt, referring to the plane that Sanjit was flying.

"He was a good kid." Diana whispered. "I saw a light in him, he didn't tie me up. You almost killed him. You killed so many people Caine, so many that you're used to it, not even caring that they're dying. Like I said, I'm bad, I'm manipulative, but I'm not evil." Caine knew it was coming, knew he had changed, but was the reason Diana stopped caring that he was evil? All Caine could do now was wait for Diana to further explain, and pray that Penny or Bug didn't walk in.

Caine froze, he couldn't, he had to tell Diana the truth. "It's not gone Diana." She perked up waiting for a good story.

"What?"

"Why do you think we came here?" Caine was starting to get his old vibrato back, but then again so was Diana; she was opening up at least.

"I thought it was for food, but maybe it was to see who would be the first one to drive themselves crazy being on this island with each other?" Diana didn't have a snarky remark up her sleeve, just a witty one, but it didn't catch Caine's attention.

Caine sunk in his seat and his face grew long. "We needed food, but I never waned to leave Coates; I could have forced Bug to come here and bring some back little by little." Diana's eyebrows rose knowing either way he would still want to stay on this island.

"Spit it out Soren." She replieded, irritated now, still not having forgiven Caine.

"It's not gone Diana; I needed to escape the Gaiaphage. It's still there, and you and I both felt its presence when we saw Drake. It makes me want to harm others. The only way to get it out of my system is just…" Caine fell silent, defeated, as the words escaped him, the only words that pained him inside, and even Diana knew not to mess with him now.

* * *

Lana knew she would hate her life at Perido beach from day one, when she was driving with her Grandfather, day one of the FAYZ. Guilt drove her off the edge to the point where she couldn't take it.

"I need to tell someone." She thought out loud.

"What?" Dahra called from the basement.

"I'm heading over to Sam's, I'll be back!" Dahra tried to call out after her but she knew it was no use. If she knew anything about Lana, it was not to mess with her. And Lana wasn't going to be stopped once she started moving

Lana burst through Sam's doorway to find Sam sitting on the couch with Astrid and Edilio, Little Pete was off to the side zoned out. Suddenly he glanced over and his eyes became sorrowful, like somehow he knew what Lana was going through, but no way could he possibly know.

"Lana, what a surprise." Sam said while Edilio's eyes shot up as he weakly smiled, but Lana had no time for that.

"What's wrong?" Sam said again, curious but wary at the same time.

Lana was tired of being alone, she needed to help, help destroy this thing that was controlling her. She was done hiding, done making scenarios worse.

"It's not gone." Lana whispered. Four pairs of eyes shot in her direction. One pair was glowing, knowing what was coming, and understanding. That fact scared her the most, how did he know?

"What?" Sam whispered already knowing what to expect.

"I have a confession." Lana whispered again making her way towards the couch.

Those dreadful words, the ones she never hoped to say, somehow escaped her mouth.

**Hope you like it, please review, it means a lot to me, if you guys like it i will continue**


	2. What Stays in the Dark

**Okay, trying a second chapter, it will get better later, review and be honest**

"Lana? What…what?" Edilio hardly spit out. It was obvious that Edilio still liked Lana but at this point in time she wasn't sure she could handle that. Edilio was one of the most loved people in the FAYZ. Lana was the one who almost destroyed it; and if opposites attracted, Diana would have stayed with Sam after the big Thanksgiving battle.

This was the last place Lana wanted to be, but she figured it was now or never. She screwed everyone over once and it wasn't about to happen again. She was tired of being alone; tired of not helping.

"It's not gone." She whispered hardly believing she was saying those words. Desperately wishing they were false. Sam, Edilio, and Astrid looked up curiously while Pete somehow smiled. Smiling at the fact that it wasn't gone? How did he know what Lana had been talking about?

"What's not gone?" Sam questioned, already knowing the answer but wanting to hear Lana say it for herself.

"Mary disappearing, that's my fault…well indirectly. I knew the darkness wasn't gone, I felt its presence, and whenever Nerezza was near I felt this…this power. And if I have this right, the Darkness still isn't gone; if anything it is trying to build up power." Sam's eyes filled with pain. There was one obvious spot where the Darkness would be, one place that Sam would be stupid enough just to leave by its lonesome for no other use then gaining power and practicing attacks; Drake.

* * *

Diana's eyes stayed on Caine not daring to move. Everyone was completely changed. Since the FAYZ, no one was the same. Drake was a creep but not a puppet for the evil mastermind called the Gaiphage. No, Caine was more of a puppet, Drake was a willing lackey. The thought sickened Diana, was she next? This thing had to be destroyed; she needed to get out of the FAYZ. Sam never really hated Diana but going back to Perido Beach was a bad choice. And Diana wouldn't dare to leave Caine like this. She needed to get out of Perido Beach, maybe live somewhere with Caine when he was sane. Well, close to sane. Diana needed a plan; a dark, manipulative plan. Diana needed out, and Diana needed to come up with a darker plan to beat the Gaiaphage, but she needed help.

* * *

Zil was a failure; the fire failed, the attack with Nerezza failed, and thanks to Lisa telling the "truth" everyone knows he was the one who started the fire. Zil wanted to win, needed to win. Something about the FAYZ made him want to be someone. Did the Darkness count as a mutant? Was the Darkness a mutant? Zil gave up, Nerezza was hot, and with her by his side once more, Zil could be unstoppable. It was like to make a deal with the darkness.

"Where are you going?" Lance questioned. He was still a follower, one of the only followers Zil had been proud of. Is I wrong to say that Zil had developed a small guy crush on him?

"Out." Zil whispered. "You in?"

Lance was unsure, the last few days Zil had been pretty unstable since the whole fire. "I think I'll stay back, but if you don't come back where can I find you."

Zil showed no expression on his face, that fact slightly scared Lance.

"I'll be back, I have things to do." With that statement Zil's feet rushed to the door.

Step by step, he'll get there soon enough. He hoped it was worth it, no, knew it was worth it. ZIl didn't know what this feeling was, like something was overpowering him, but that's stupid. Nothing, no one, overpowers Zil.

He made it, standing at the top of the cliff where it all ended, where everyone thought it ended.

"I'm here." He whispered

* * *

John looked at all the kids in the day care. Crying, helpless, whining fighting. A short blonde one strolled over to him. Needed to pee, of course. Her face growing anxious as she tugged on his arm. _I'm sick and tired of this. ALL OF IT. Hear that Mary? But I can't leave, I didn't try to kill the kids…I'm here…you coward. _John snapped, what had he just said? He wanted to take it back but knew that he thought it was true.

Step one…let the girl pee

Step two…find new recruits

Step three…find Mary

Was that even possible? Sam and Astrid searched the wall long ago with no luck. But there had to be a way out, had anyone even looked? Mary got out, why can't John. Mary was ALIVE. Mary was outside the wall. Mary needed help. John shook his head, long sentences, longer thought process.

Step one…let this girl pee; hold down the day care, just for tonight.

* * *

The power was swelling; a power he had never felt before. He was getting more control of his body, this body that wasn't his.

"Thank you." He whispered, words barely escaping his mouth. The words that almost never left his mouth. With legs spread on the ground, he practiced, it was what he needed. Become stronger, get better, faster, and whip these bitches with all I have. He could feel the faint emotion of disapproval, but this feeling wasn't his. It was a feeling locked inside of him, and with some more time to build strength, it will be locked away for good. Practice was what he needed. Grinning the whip exploded from his shoulder. Veins pulsing with a blood-red that wasn't even humanly possible, with a color not in the rainbow. This color was not humanly possible, just like the power that ran through those veins.

Step one…build up power

Step two…break out

Step three…bring Sam Temple down, with him the rest of the town will follow

Step four…get Caine and Diana; they must be destroyed, sweet revenge

Step five…rule the FAYZ and break out of this pawn

What? Where had that thought come from? He let the idea slip, no where, just keep practicing.

Step one…build up power, and that was exactly what Drake did.

**Please review...tell me if you like it, if i dont get reviews i wont continue**

**thank you if you do review =) - Lindsey**


	3. What Enters Our Mind

**Thank you for reviewing HungryInTheDark, Atchair, and futurecullen26, it means a lot. This chapter is a bit longer, i hope you enjoy, more to come**

**-Lindsey ^.^**

Lana had to do this now. She was tired of being alone, sick and tired of it all. If she wanted the darkness gone then she needed to do it now, and she needed help. But no one, even Lana could ignore the fact that Sam looked like he was having a seizure in the corner.

"Sam?" Lana whispered as Astrid was weakly standing over him. It was still unsure if they ever did get back together. And what does that prove to anyone? That things in the FAYZ are getting worse? That the only two people who stayed strong since the very first day of the FAYZ are now apart? Yeah, that's comforting…

"I'm and idiot. He isn't dead. I let him get stronger. What if Nerezza is there? What if he kills me? Am I allowed to solve this? Will the council get me in trouble? Does my brother know Drake isn't dead?" Sam was going on a rampage, with quiet subtle sentences but anyone could tell that he was screaming inside.

"Sam, calm down, it will be okay." Astrid laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder, but nothing could make it better at this point.

Sam's eyes starting glowing and his hands were shaking, only showing how he was seconds away from having an impossible beam of light shoot out of his hands. "SHUT UP, JUST SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH ASTRID. I failed! Do you hear me? I SCREWED UP AND TRYING TO MAKE THIS BETTER WON'T HELP. AT ALL!" Smoke was pouring out of Sam's hands. It was evident that he could hardly hold back the burning yellow death trap that lies inside them.

"He is out for blood Astrid." Sam whispered much calmer now. Lana stood in the corner not knowing how to react. She knew what he was going through. Knew it the first time she saw Drake whip someone with that hand. _Her creation. Her doing. This kid is hurt because of her. She created that hand_. Sometimes, she could still feel the red material forming under her hands. The skin that didn't feel like skin at all. Lana's thoughts broke when she remembered Sam was in the middle of a breakthrough…because that's kind of hard to miss.

"And I let him build power. He is out to get me Astrid. ME. Not you, me, myself and I. He has made it his obsession to try and kill me." Astrid had nothing left to say. No remarks, no smart, thought up _genius _plan. Edilio just stared curiously, knowing that he had an unpleasant encounter with Drake too.

Lana stepped up from the shadows. "Then let's stop him." The house grew silent and that was enough of an answer for Lana.

* * *

"Diana!" Caine practically yelled. He was tired of her attitude, not that he should be talking. Where was the old Diana that he used to know so well? The one that he saved? The one that loved him? Deep down he knew that she was still there; somewhere.

"If you're still mad at me then say so. I will do anything to make you…" Caine was cut off by a suddenly very typical Diana.

"Shut Up, Soren!" She yelled. At least she was starting to become herself again. Diana's eyes were a fiery brown but then sank to a softer chocolate shade.

"Sorry, just thinking." She whispered.

"About?" Caine didn't know if he wanted to know the answer. If it was another hate threat or a "why did you change" he didn't really want to hear it.

"Was Lana the only other one who met him?" Diana asked, making eye contact with Caine for the first time in a while.

Somehow Caine knew exactly what she meant. "And Drake, and Orsay…but they're…."

"I know." Diana cut off. "I have a plan." Diana stated. Simple and short.

"So the tables are turning, are they now?" Caine smiled. Maybe his old charm would bring Diana back to his side. It was slim, but maybe showing his old self would start to show Diana that it was possible to become his self again.

"I'm not evil though, and I'm not a puppet. I want this to stop before I am. I have seen what it has done to people. Just look at you, you sick disturbed boy." Diana was staring at the ground. Somehow, Caine knew exactly what she was talking about.

Knowing the conversation was going no further in Caine's favor, he walked over to the window of the large living room in the mansion. The kids were lucky to have found this place. The living room had a window that looked off to the ocean. If you went off onto the balcony you could vaguely see Perido Beach, but that was one place that Caine tried to ignore. Some serious shit went down there. If it wasn't for big Thanksgiving Battle, it was listening to the coyotes and following them to the Darkness. Worse yet was staying there for 3 whole days.

"I mean, just look at what he did to you." Diana said. Caine was unsure of if she even looked up off the ground but didn't take the effort to look. Staring at the ocean was comfortable to him. With the wall being invisible it sometimes felt like it wasn't even there at all.

"I mean I see the way Drake started ogling you once you got back. He needed a partner, so the Darkness turned you evil. Bad to worse, cause Drake has a thing for evil people. He tried to kill me so he could have you all to himself." Diana spoke the last words slowly and clearly.

"What?" Caine turned around in a second making sure Diana was kidding.

"Just making sure you were listening." She smiled. Her eyes looked at Caine's for the first time since they had been on that island. Her eyes were beautiful and the smile displayed across her face was for Caine. He couldn't help but smile back.

"So your plan?" He whispered, looking down, so relieved that she was finally talking to him again.

"Simple, not like yours…difference number one… find Lana, gather some help, kill the darkness…and we'll make a plan there. It created the wall Caine, I'm sure of it. The power it has created our powers. The uranium? It wants to take over, get more. We can stop it, and save the world…pretty anticlimactic huh?" Diana's soft eyes never left Caine's.

"The bad guys trying to save the world?" Caine questioned. Diana thought it over for a moment

"Okay, lets get real…save the FAYZ." She smiled and they stayed just gazing into each others eyes for what felt like the first time in forever.

* * *

His whip arm snapped across the room. Growing, and pulsing unreal red blood through it. His arm was the only real thing that felt real, which was real ironic considering that the arm was artificial. Drake stood in the middle of the dark basement.

"It's almost time." He whispered under his breath. His whip was stronger than ever. He could remember when he first got it, standing before the superior being that was called the Darkness. Standing before those emerald green crystals along side Lana. He could feel her hands along the stump of his arm, creating a flesh that wasn't quite his own. He could remember thrusting it through the air for the first time. Remembered swiping it across Diana's face leaving a red trail; she was the first person he had whipped. He blissfully wrapped his arm around his stomach and looked at the dark room around him.

He was in control, at least until Brittany tried to come back.

Drake could feel the faint soul trying to peak out. Drake looked at his hand; it was growing smaller, girlish, and his whip was shrinking into the shape of an arm.

"No." Drake whispered. Quietly but defiantly. He clenched his teeth and whipped his chest with what was left of his whip arm. A girlish scream escaped his mouth. It was a scream that wasn't his own, and that whip didn't hurt him at all. His strong legs stood still while his girlish hands clutched his shaggy blonde hair, which was growing longer on his face.

"Self control." He whispered. "I am in control of this body." The blood was pumping like rapid through his arm which was turning it back to a whip.

"Yes!" He screamed. Brittany didn't even take over his body. His whip was pulsing stronger then ever before, was a brighter red, and it was his lifeline.

Looking closely, he could swear he saw it glowing green towards the tip.

* * *

Zil overlooked the ocean from the cliff next to Clifftop Hotel.

"So this is where it all went down?" He questioned aloud. From this view he could see everything. The tops of all the burned houses. His creation. It was for their own good. _If only it didn't fail. _The thoughts swirled through his head. It was a fool proof plan! What went wrong? _No, didn't fail, in progress._ Progress…that was what he needed, and his progress right now was to find Nerezza, she had to be there somewhere.

_Help, and I will come back._

Zil jumped, almost falling off the cliff. That voice, was he going crazy?

_You need me Zil, Nerezza needs you…contribute to the cause, and rule._

That voice was defiantly there, but it wasn't Nerezza's. It was darker, immortal, not human at all. This voice, could he trust it?

"What cause?" Zil asked, feeling slightly foolish, not knowing what he was talking to. "Who are you?"

_I am who I am, and help the cause to help Nerezza_

_Come to me…_

"Where do I find you? Where is Nerezza? How do I help?" Zil had so many questions. His head was spiraling with a whirlpool of thoughts and doubts. He took a deep breath and looked off the cliff waiting for an answer. The tide was calm, strange, but things have been strange for seven months now. Strange had a whole new meaning now.

"Hello?" Zil couldn't give up now, what was this thing that was talking to him?

_I am what I am, contribute to the cause…_

"What?" Zil said aloud, knowing he wasn't getting an answer. Nerezza was out there, but how can he contribute to the cause if he didn't even know what the cause was?

"Oh well, get your game face on Zil." He whispered to himself, being ready for whatever was thrown at him next.

* * *

"New recruits?" Howard practically spat in John's face. "After the whole 'Mary jumping off the cliff with the kids', they're acting pretty wack. And if no one wanted a day care job before, no one is going to want them now." Howard sat back down and relaxed in his chair being done with the issue.

"I'm on the council too! I get a say and people need to start playing their part! I have stuff I need to do outside of the daycare and having only two workers will not help!" John spat back just as defiantly.

"Yeah, I'm on the council too little man, why do you think I'm here?" Howard was showing less and less emotion towards the issue.

"Well what do you need done?" Albert asked, finally taking part of the conversation. It looked like the mayors desk was made for him. He was the only kid who actually tried to keep order and succeeded. In a nice sweater and dress pants, the mayor's office suited him very nicely.

"Just…stuff. Family stuff." John whispered, looking down. He didn't dare to say that he wanted to find the Darkness and get Mary back. As much as he hoped she was safe at home, outside of the FAYZ.

Howard snarled "What family? Mary is gone! You have no family. Except for you little Johnny Boy." Obviously Howard was not going to let this conversation go without a fight.

John's eyes raged, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Just because you manipulated your way onto the council doesn't mean we want to hear your opinion. Why are you even here? Does anyone actually value your opinion? Just be like Astrid, do everyone a favor, and leave." John was breathing heavily; he has never felt so heated.

"Calm, calm." Albert warned reassuringly. "Well if we still have Caine's original rules then that means that the day care can recruit anyone they want because the littles are the most important." It was obvious that Albert just wanted this conversation to end.

Howard cackled even louder, now not wanting to drop the conversation. "There is so much wrong with that sentence. First, do you really want Caine's rules? With Drake having control to beat up or even kill whichever sorry loser he thought broke the law? And if we were using Caine's rules, they state that MOTHER MARY can recruit anyone, not little baby daddy John over there."

John didn't have a response; he didn't trust himself to talk.

"Howard, weren't _you_ one of Drake's thugs? …Doesn't matter, maybe we just wait for the rest of the council?" Albert asked, hoping he wouldn't have to deal with this rising tension any longer.

_Mary is safe, let her go; contribute to the cause like she would want._

"Did you say something?" John asked the group.

"Wow, a bit childish are we John? Pretending like you didn't hear me?" The smirk never left Howard's face.

"Wait for the rest of the council." Albert repeated, this time as a warning.

John rubbed his ears, hoping he was just hearing things.

* * *

"So, are we going or what?" Lana asked curiously.

Astrid's eyes popped open as if she were hearing Lana for the first time. She raised her hands and put all her hair behind her head, not knowing what to do with it.

"Nervous reaction." She laughed as if the whole room even cared at what was buzzing through her head right now.

"Going where?" Astrid asked, more confident towards the group now.

Little Pete finally stood up from the corner of the living room where he sat, completely forgotten about.

"Drake, we must stop him. He will be controlled, and help the cause." With that said, his eyes glossed over and he went back to sitting, staring aimlessly, just staring at the group of teenagers in the room.

"What Petey?" Astrid practically tore the house apart trying to run over to him.

"What cause, what will Drake do?" But it was no use; Pete was back into his own little world. The room fell silent as Lana delicately strolled towards the middle.

"Honestly, I have no idea what he just said, but I feel like he's on my side. We have to end this, get out of this hell-hole." Lana just stood in the middle of the room, not expecting an answer. She just wanted to be heard.

"Window seat Petey…window seat!" Astrid's voice was dying down. She had lost hope long ago in trying to get little Pete to talk, but it was always worth a shot. His eyes were glossed over, like there was no life in him, only for a fewmoments he would wake up from this coma and say random phrases. The only problem was that this talking was nonsense. Astrid just wished he would show her what it meant, even if it meant falling through the ground and seeing odd multicolored avatars.

"It's no use." Lana whispered.

It was Edilio who broke the silence and walk towards the door. "Well Lana isn't going to wait forever, let's go." And with that, Sam, Lana, and Edilio set off determined to find Drake, while Astrid tried to drag Pete along behind

They walked in silence, with only the sounds of their shoes hitting the pavement. They weren't running, but they weren't taking their time as the made their way down Sherman. It was burned, blackened, from the terrible fire. Just the thing that this depressing town needed, a gaping scar that reminded everyone just how screwed they truly were. That fact brought a grimace to Lana's face. She didn't want it to end this way, but in a weird way, she couldn't imagine her life without this experience. The Darkness was something completely out of her league; it was out of her reach. The only thing she knew was that she was forced to acquiesce it its request, and that was complete "FAYZ" domination, and possibly the world. That was a fact she would never wish upon anyone. What she went through the past seven months was even something even the devil would never think of using as a torture device. But somehow, she was still glad that she was in the car with her grandfather that day. It shouldn't excite her but it did. Not knowing Sam, Edilio, Quinn, and even Astrid would probably hurt her inside. Was it that she truly needed these people to survive, or she wanted someone that knew her story. All these months Lana thought that all she needed was to be alone. Being alone would pass the time, and being alone would help her problem. Lana was wrong, being alone brought her to her problem. She was a fool, it was a trap; attempting to burn the mine that was. Her brain felt liquefied, and when it wasn't burning to a liquid, it was controlled and distorted in some way that she didn't understand. And being alone was the wrong choice; she needed Sam and the others to stop the Darkness. Lana came to Perido Beach looking to be alone, feeling miserable. Walking down the street now she realized that maybe she was sent here to learn how to actually interact with others. Maybe that's the only way to stop the darkness.

Lana's thoughts were lost when she stopped in front of one of the only houses on Sherman that wasn't burnt down by the fire.

"Ready to do this?" Edilio said, trying to convince himself more than the others.

"Yes." Sam hardly breathed. "It is long and overdue." He was breathing heavily, like a monster controlled him inside. Lana had never seen this side of him. It reminded her all too much of herself. Overwhelmed with emotions, spending to much time with evil memories that all you can think of is revenge. Cold, dead, morbid revenge.

Sam charged up the steps, his feet hitting against the stone that led up to the house, never missing a beat.

"Sam, what are you-?" Orc questioned but Sam's hands lit up in burning balls of light before he could finish. This was a sure sign for Orc that he should move away from the door that he was guarding. Sam raised his hands and fired at the door before anyone could question him. Lana, Edilio, Astrid, and Pete stood behind Sam, watching, and scared of what lied behind the door.

Drake spun around, waiting, ready for anything. Lana took into account that his whip was bigger, stronger, and ready to take on twice as much as before. This terrified Lana. She had seen what Drake had done to Sam with the whip that she had created. She had to heal him, and it never killed her so much inside healing anyone.

Drake took one step forward from the dark basement he was locked in, revealing a crocked smile displayed across his face.

"I'm not playing!" Sam roared as he lunged at Drake. Astrid's eyes lit up not believing what she was seeing, too shocked to move.

"SAM!" Lana practically tumbled down the steps, what was he doing? Did he even have a plan?

Drake showed no movement, filled with a blithe invincibility as his whip unwrapped from around his waist.

Sam was shooting blind. The balls of light hardly touching Drake's body. Drake's only reaction was slowly stepping closer to the boy.

"No." Lana whispered under her breath. "You can't do this." But no one could hear her. Edilio rushed down the steps to the basement to help Sam in case he needed back-up.

Drake walked over calmly, then snapped his whip around Sam's waist and lifted him in the air.

"Think you can beat me Sammy?" Drake said with a smirk that was all too familiar. The same smirk that appeared when Drake first got his whip arm...and this frightened Lana. An expression of fascination and power. And for a sadist, that sign was never good.

"You can't beat me Sammy boy." Drake whispered, his voice low and harsh. "You never will."

Lana could almost swear that Drake's eyes were glowing green.

**Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it, and review please! Reviews make me happy, and happiness means more/better chapters.**

**Sorry if you think my updates come slow, i try to write on weekdays but i mostly just write on weekends, its when i have time.**

**Anyway...until next time, enjoy ^.^**


	4. When the Adventure Begins

**Sorry i took so long to update. March is one of those months where all my teachers decide to give me projects at once... sorry. This chapter is pretty long so i hope it makes up for it...next chapter will be interesting i promise! in case you think this chapter isnt... its a moment most people have been waiting for...i think? But anyway, i hope you guys like this chapter i tried to add some kind of twist here and there. Anyway im going to try to throw in one more chapter before PLAGUE! Which is early next month...and this month is almost over! WOOT WOOT! Yeah im guessing fanfiction is going to be empty for a few days and then explode with *this should happen next* Now before i finish and authors note which happenes to be a paragraph (hehe...sorry) which you probably don't want to read right now but i want to say thank you for continuing to read my story, it means a lot to me knowing that you guys like my work and want to read it, so thank you to all the people that read and review, i wouldn't be able to write this story without your support...on with the story!**

Lana had no doubts; the darkness was trying to take over Drake. If anything, Sam needed a great deal of luck to even hope to escape from Drake now. The Darkness was living inside of Drake's arm. It was his lifeline. That arm was what even kept Drake alive. With Brittany dieing behind the surface, there would be no way that Drake could survive without her. And without some kind of luck, Sam wasn't going to make it like this. The Darkness created everyone's powers, knew everyone's powers, and used everyone's powers. From the very start, he told the coyotes not to kill Lana because she would be of use. Used her to create Drake's arm. He used Caine to bring the uranium to him because he had known that Caine had the power to move it without dieing. He surely would have died of radiation without his telekinesis. He gave that power to Caine though, knowing that he wouldn't be able to resist. So what did it want now? Surely Drake still had some of his old mind considering Sam was the first one he grabbed.

"Now Sammy, I'm going to finish you like I promised long ago. It's been seven months overdue." The smile of a shark took over his whole face while his normally gray eyes glowed an emerald green. Sam didn't know what he could do now, his arms were trapped under Drake's whip, and using his power would end up killing himself. Then again, would he rather kill himself then be killed by Drake?

Sam's hands were started to glow as Little Pete charged down the steps to the basement.

"Don't." He said. Simply speaking, without any defiance in his voice.

"And why would I do that?" Came a voice that wasn't Drake's. The green of Drake's eyes became less bright as his own voice returned.

"Astrid, get your little retard brother back, he's too young to see how Sam is going to be treated." Drake retorted. Astrid was fuming but didn't dare to speak back to Drake. Even though she and Sam were broken up, he was still her friend and she loved him too much to see what Drake would do to Sam. Deep down, Astrid still cared for Sam, and she did still have feelings, but those were for the old Sam. Sam had changed so much since the first day of the FAYZ, and Astrid had no idea what had happened. Then again, Astrid wasn't exactly the same person that she used to be seven months ago either.

Sam couldn't suppress his screams any longer as Drake's whip was squeezing all of the oxygen from his lungs. Sam could feel his hands starting to burn a hole right through his pants. The others would surely do something if they SAW Sam try to kill himself.

"Don't." Pete whispered again, and with that, Sam, Pete, and Astrid simply vanished from thin air.

Drake's eye's bugged out of his head. "Damn it! Where are they?" He screamed. Drake only settled when his deep gray eyes filled with green again.

"It's okay." He whispered to himself. "It wasn't time, we are almost done building power. Get the girl, help her bring back Nerezza." The voice, again, was not Drake's. But now, in a voice closer to his own, he whispered. "Get the girl, bring back Nerezza."

Lana jumped and started to run up the stairs knowing they were talking about her. Who else could create a "human body" under the control of the darkness?

But Lana was too slow, and the whip coiled around her waist.

"Long time no see, Lana." Drake whispered. Whether it was the Darkness or Drake, it was true for both of them.

* * *

"Lana" Caine whispered, breaking eye contact with Diana.

"What abo-" But Diana didn't get to finish her sentence.

"Lana would be willing to help. She would be willing to kill the Gaiaphage." Caine said, blunt as day. Diana was scared to death thinking that she would have to face the Gaiphage and Drake together, but used all her will power not to let her emotions show. Diana knew that she couldn't let herself come off as weak, even and especially in front of Caine. In all honesty, she didn't even care if the Gaiaphage lived with the kids in Perido Beach. That sounded bad but Diana never said that she was good. Lately she has become kinder, more honest to people; almost dying twice can do that to you. She didn't want to help people who lived in the FAYZ, she wanted Caine to be sane. When they were at Coates together his little crush made Diana feel satisfied. Even if she showed no emotion back, the fact that he kept trying _for her_ made the small heart that she had feel warm. It wasn't until the FAYZ happened when she realized that she needed him. Sure, Diana just let Caine kiss her before, knowing that it would make himself feel better. Then she started to develop feelings for him; she _liked_ his company; not that she had a choice. She needed Caine to protect her from Drake, but knowing that Caine was just as sick and twisted as herself gave her a feeling that she wasn't alone; she didn't have to be alone. But being on her own was what Diana was best at, and having people in her life just meant one more person to manipulate.

"Caine…" Diana whispered, not even knowing why, not having a comment to provoke him with.

"Ready to go?" He questioned back. Diana smiled, but not her usual sarcastic one.

"Lead the way, fearless leader." She hit him right back. "But as much trouble as we had getting on this island, how do we get down?" Caine peered out the window trying to see over the cliff.

"I'm a four-bar Diana." He blurted out, with as much confidence as he once had. "And with you, I can do anything." Diana let that remark go. It made her warm feeling like she was needed though. It warmed the small heart that she had in her, but not like she would ever reveal that to anyone.

Diana peered out the window too, "Like I said, lead the way fearless leader."

"Where are you guys going?" Penny whispered from the couch, too weak to move. She could try to get up if she wanted to, but limping over to the couple was out of the question. The day Diana jumped off the cliff was also the day Caine help Sanjit's helicopter in his grip with Penny dangling overtop. When Diana jumped, Caine threw Penny back towards the ground and used all his power to save Diana. The helicopter got away but there was no way that Caine was going to let Diana die, not after all the time he had spent trying to keep her alive; with Drake, with the cliff, and now.

"Out." Caine replied, not wanting Penny to follow but not wanting to leave her here so weak. Her head was wrapped in bandages and her leg was broken. Then again, Bug was somewhere in this house and even though he was invisible, he could still watch her.

Penny's dark hair fell in her face as she looked down, "With _her_? Where?" Penny didn't want to accept the fact that Caine threw her towards the ground and broke her leg in order to save Diana. What did she have that Penny didn't?

"Were going clubbing and Caine's taking me with to get me drunk, he said you wouldn't be any fun drunk, you might use your power." Diana wasn't smiling, she just wanted to go.

Penny rolled her eyes and looked back at Caine, "We're on an island?"

"Thank you captain obvious."

"Where would you possibly be going? We just got here." Penny was fed up with Diana but she wanted answers.

Caine looked at Penny, pity in his eyes. He broke her leg and was now ditching her, but things needed to be done and Caine wasn't the type to wait around.

"We're leaving the island; we'll be back…eventually. Just some things we need to do first back in Perido Beach. And don't worry, we'll find our way down." Caine answered, monotone, he just wanted to get going.

"I'll always worry." Penny whispered. "But be safe." It was something that Caine would have expected out of Diana's mouth. Not on a regular basis, she would never show her true emotions, but she would when she would try to stop Caine from doing something stupid, like trying to bring uranium to a hungry beast…thing…

"Thanks." Caine whispered, using the few emotions he had to feel sorry for Penny, "Bug can take care of you, wherever he is." Caine saw Penny's eyes drop but he had no time to waste, he and Diana needed to set off now.

* * *

Mary looked around, not quite sure where she was. She saw people who were a part of her past, kind of. Only the ones who were in the FAYZ. Sitting next to her was Anna, she was one of the first to leave the FAYZ. The other side of this room…area…place was Andrew. When he left, he indirectly showed Caine the way to escape the poof. Francis sat on the other side of Anna. Mary looked around trying to decide where she was. A cave? No, to open, even for the one the Gaiaphage lived in. Some kind of limbo land was the most acceptable answer to Mary. A limbo land with no way out, a one way ticket to becoming a prisoner. At least her questions were answered, mostly. She knew why she was there, knew what the Gaiaphage was, knew it's plan, knew what it was. The sick demon of a mind that it had, Mary thought Drake was evil but clearly she didn't know the meaning of the word. Mary knew the Darkness was controlling Drake, and she was beyond glad that she didn't have to witness it; but how long would it be until she did? What would happen if the Darkness's plan worked? And oh gosh, what will happen to John? Mary looked around, trying to see how many mutants were in this…place. Could we stop him from the inside? The real question was inside of what exactly? Mary shook her head, she was too tired to think about this now, she closed her eyes so she could get rid of the faint green light that filled the room.

"Good night Mary." Anna whispered. She was a good friend, from the few days that Mary had been able to talk to her in here. But now wasn't the time to think. For the first time in what felt like years, Mary could actually sleep, rest, and relax without a kid sitting on her lap.

Was this really a bad thing? She thought to herself.

_You will be happy here._

Mary opened her eyes, maybe she was just hearing things, or maybe she was going crazy? No, according to Astrid she was crazy; maybe it's better if she stayed here.

* * *

"I want to help." Zil said aloud, feeling idiotic standing outside talking to no one. He wasn't sure what exactly he was talking to but something inside him knew that he needed Nerezza back. With Nerezza, the Human Crew could rule. Zil didn't know much about her, but he knew that he needed her.

_Contribute to the cause._

"How!" Zil screamed, not believing this thing actually heard him.

_Come to me…contribute to the cause._

Zil was getting frustrated, was this thing stupid? "Yes!" Zil yelled, "WHERE?"

_Where no one dares to go, and everything glows a deathly green._

Zil closed his eyes, where no one dares to go? Where could this thing be hiding? Sherman? No, people just don't want to bring back the memories. Zil smiled to himself, if only his brother was there. Kids were terrified of Zil, look how accomplished he had become. Maybe he should find Lance, Zil could never make a decision by himself; he just embraced other peoples decisions.

Zil closed his eyes and glanced over the edge one more time, this time he WOULD be successful, and no one would stop him. He set off back towards the human side of town.

"Lance would help me, he's smart, he can figure out the riddle." Zil whispered out loud as he turned the corner of the street. Walking back towards his house always seemed faster when Zil talked to himself, because that's normal. Lance would surely solve this riddle though, because Lance was always on Zil's side. Even if Nerezza didn't come back, Zil would still have Lance. It always puzzled Zil as to why Lance didn't have a girlfriend yet. It has been almost eight months since the start of the FAYZ and Lance is still single. He's athletic, charming, smart, and dare he say hot. Lance could easily protect any girl…or guy…who was scared at any point during these past seven months, and there was defiantly a lot to be scared about.

Zil shook his head as he arrived at his front door, "I like Nerezza" he whispered so Lance wouldn't hear, "She's going to be my girl."

Lance opened the door and his face turned pale, like he was surprised.

"I thought I heard someone out here." Lance smiled sheepishly, was he hiding something?

"Who is at the freaking door, we were in the middle of-"She stopped in the middle of her sentence when she saw Zil. This girl was nearly half dressed. She grabbed her shirt off the couch and ran out of the house in her bra and jeans. Zil remembered this girl from school, a ninth grader whom just recently turned fifteen, but Zil forgot her name in the moment, he was too shocked.

* * *

Lance stood frozen in the doorway, hoping that Zil wouldn't recognize her. He kicked Derek out of his own house just because his sister was a mutant, Lance didn't know what Zil would do knowing that his girlfriend was a mutant. Lance had kept this a secret for four months, how could he be so stupid now? And why does Zil look so freaked? _Crap, he knows, and he's going to kick me out. Where am I going to live? I'm one of the main members of the human crew; the main land of Perido Beach won't let me in. And_ _Casey's friends don't know about me, so I can't live with her._ Lance's swirling thoughts were interrupted when he noticed how Zil was looking at him.

"Hey, bro." He said sheepishly as he was pulling his shirt on. "We didn't do anything." He stared down, not wanting to see Zil's reaction, did he remember her?

"It's cool, Lance." Zil patted him on the back. "I wanted you to help me with something." Zil said, now walking into their house. Amazing, it's like Zil completely forgot about Casey.

"Yeah, um, sure, what was it?" Lance kept stuttering, not really believing that Zil would let him off so easy after being with a mutant. Maybe he hadn't remembered her?

"So…" Zil regained his normal facial expression, "If I were to go to a place that you wouldn't believe, where no one dared to go, where would I be?"

"Hell." Lance blurted under his breath, "Because that's where I'm going."

"What?"

"I would say out of the FAYZ walls." Lance blurted out again, pretending like he said that all along.

"No, like inside of the FAYZ." Zil was up to something.

"I don't know, with Drake?"

"Brilliant! Lance you're a genius, let's go." Zil ran towards the door, excited.

"To Orc's basement to see Drake?" Lance didn't know whether Zil wanted to murder himself, try to look like a hero, or use Lance as bait for eloping with a mutant.

"This might sound crazy, but that's where Nerezza is."

"Oh?" Lance said walking towards the door. "Well, why not?"

Zill stared out into the neighborhood before heading off, why had Lance looked so sheepish, hiding his girlfriend like that? Maybe he's embarrassed, or maybe he thinks that Zil had had a crush on him. Zil shut his eyes tight so no light could enter his vision, it hadn't been that obvious, had it?

* * *

Sam let out a huge breathe and his eyes snapped open, wait how was he even breathing? He looked around at the ashes he laid and noticed the red tentacle was nowhere to be found.

"Sam?" Astrid whispered, sounding just as confused as he did.

_Well I'm not in hell _Sam thought to himself _Astrid wouldn't be here with me_. He looked around and saw Astrid dusting the ash off herself while staring at Sam, wondering if he still had a pulse or not. Little Pete sat next to her, hands by his side with a glossy stare like nothing at all happened.

"Sam, are you okay?" Astrid repeated, a little shaky now. Sam knew that Astrid would start to freak out when Sam didn't answer, but he couldn't answer, not now.

Astrid's eyes grew large with fear until she remembered that Pete had been there too. "PETE!" She practically lunged on him, "You're okay?" Pete showed no emotions at all, but his eyes were locked on Sam, almost like he knew something. His eyes were glossed over but somehow seemed happy, glowing, like he did know what was going on, like he knew more then what was going on.

"I can't believe it." Astrid exclaimed, not realizing that she was the only one with enough energy to start talking.

"Window seat Petey." She whispered as she looked down the street; her street, their street, and what Sam didn't realize was that he was sitting in the ashes of Astrid's bedroom. Sam picked up a handful of ashes and let them fall to the floor, figures that the rest of the street is still standing because this isn't Sherman like he thought; Drake burned down the house thinking that Astrid and Pete were in it.

"It wasn't safe" Pete stated, not taking his eyes off Sam.

"You took us to the window seat!" Astrid yelled, hugging Pete, treating him like a child. Even though Pete was young and autistic, Astrid had to learn that he knew a lot more about the world, this world, than any of them did.

"It wasn't safe." Pete repeated. "You care about him, because he wasn't ready yet" Pete then took his gaze off Sam and stared at the ashes, all three kids knowing they weren't going to get any more answers.

Astrid just stared at Pete, had he only saved Sam because she cared about him, or was he actually in any real danger with Drake?

"What about Lana and Edilio?" Sam looked up for the first time since being away from Drake's grip.

No one had an answer to his question, and that unsettling fact began to buzz through Sam's mind. Lana had just started to open up and all he did was leave her with D_. Sam couldn't finish his thought, couldn't think about that boy…creature…_monster_. Tears formed behind his eyes; Lana had gone through so much, being taken over by the Darkness and Sam left that to happen again.

"We can't save them." Astrid whispered, now making her way towards Sam. "I'm not saying it's too late, but we can't go back in there. We need to beat Drake, and we need help."

"Who would help us!" Sam growled, somehow finding the energy to talk again. "Every kid in the FAYZ wants out, and no one wants to face Drake!"

"Well…" Astrid tried one last time to reason with him.

"Well what?" Sam was ready to explode; he was sick and tired of Astrid trying to reason with him. Why couldn't she just spit out what she was trying to say? They both knew that they were nowhere near the same people they started out being when the FAYZ started. They had both gone through too much, especially Sam.

"You know, your brother is kind of a genius, an evil genius. Wouldn't that just make it easier for him to stop Drake? He killed him once, but the Darkness brought him back to life. Caine hates Drake too, Sam, and together maybe both of you could stop him." Astrid never liked Caine, actually she had never hated anyone until she met the trio from Coates, but this was the last idea she could resort to.

"You want my twin to help?" Sam asked, shaky, he and his brother had never seen eye to eye, and Astrid never liked Caine even from the first day she saw him.

"You must have a plan then." Sam said, finishing his thought out loud hoping Astrid would understand.

"I say we get help." Astrid smiled like she was well…Astrid the Genius. She put her hand on Sam's shoulder but he shrugged it off.

"We're not still going out Astrid, stop." Sam looked down, not wanting to see the smile fade from her face.

* * *

Diana peered over the edge of the cliff. "Genius plan." She whispered, "Just like all your others." Caine glared at her but didn't take it personally, she just wanted off the island.

"You have a better idea!" He snapped back. "I can safetly get us down parts of the cliff, just look for a ledge and I'll lift you down, like a fun ride at a carnival." Caine wanted Diana to relax and just trust him for once.

"What are we test dummies?" She retorted just as fast. "Here test out this ride, but find a safe spot on the ground while the mutant with X-Men powers throws you down, yeah only a 50/50 chance of dying, maybe higher." Diana wasn't smirking, so Caine stopped. He knew she was scared, she just wouldn't show it. Sarcasm has always hid her emotions inside.

"Last time I did this I was out of energy and dying, and we're here aren't we?" Diana ignored him knowing that he was right. "Look, there's a ledge." Caine spoke once again, now with some enthusiasm.

"Like 50 feet down!" Diana screamed!

"Don't worry, you won't die." Caine smiled. Diana looked down, _yeah, I can do that on my own_ she thought to herself, feeling embarrassed. Now feeling healthy and alive again she sort of regretted the decisions she made, but then again she regretted a lot of stuff. And even though it seemed like a dumb move, she didn't regret loving Caine.

"Throw me down." She said, ready to start the new adventure for herself and Caine, only difference is that she called the shots this time, but Caine was still the one with the power. Suddenly, Diana felt an impossible force hold her still as she started dropping down the cliff. She closed her eyes as her hair whipped across her face. After four months since she cut it, it was about shoulder length again. Before she knew it, Diana's body stopped abruptly two feet from the ledge where she found herself, and she floated down to the bottom of it. After about ten minutes Diana wondered what had happened to Caine, and how was he even going to get down? He can't use his power on himself. But Diana spoke to soon. The sun was blocked by Caine's body jumping, no riding, off the cliff on some sort of, board? He maneuvered his way through the air pulling the board underneath him, that being something he _could_ use his powers on. He crash landed on the ledge without hurting the board he rode on, a sled?

"Smooth" Diana whispered.

Caine smirked, "I told you it would be a ride, I just wanted to test it first, hop on; the sled fits two." Diana felt a smile appear on her face and as Caine picked up the sled from the ledge of the cliff, Diana knew it would be the first time she actually had any fun in about 8 months now.

**Well i hope you enjoyed it! Sorry it took so long to update...yeah i realized i kind of left you with Sam being crushed by Drake...sorry about that, he didn't die, yay! Next chapter i have planned (in my head) but i hope to post it soon! i promise i will write! ANYWAY...please review, it means a lot to me, so im going to stop writing so you can review...yay**

**Keep Reading!**

** -Lindsey**


	5. When we meet again

**Sorry if i dont update a lot, i have been busy, but i'm continuing with this story as much as possible, i know fanfiction will be empty most of today...everyone reading plague, buying it if not finding it online, then fanfiction will be exploding with plague continuations...and everyone wanting fear to come out. Well im going to read plague once i post this, can't wait! but i decided to add my own character into this, sorry for you who don't like that, but she isn't going to be that big of a character. I think most of the lose ends are tied up so this story and really take off now. Please review, its what keeps me going!**

"So what do you want" Lana half whispered half cried. Drake chuckled as the green in his eyes grew brighter.

"Naïve little Lana, so we meet again? I've missed you, you've helped me, and you're going to help me again." Lana still didn't know if it was Drake or the Darkness talking, because it was still true for both.

"I won't do it." Lana whispered defiantly, looking downward. "You can kill me, I don't care, but I'm not doing your bidding."

"You think I didn't account for that?" The voice escaped from Drake's lips again and as fast as lighting had a gun in his before Lana even knew it was there.

"You don't want him to be shot again do you?" Before Edilio even had the chance to run an explosion had sounded from Drake's gun.

"You don't think me of all people would carry a gun around?" Drake's green eyes grew brilliantly with satisfaction as he stared at Edilio thriving with pain. How could someone act like that? How could someone get satisfaction of another's pain? Lana couldn't take Edilio's screams, this had been the second time he was shot, and the second time it involved Lana.

"Help me, and you can heal him. If you still want to kill yourself, I'm sure Edilio would understand." Lana couldn't believe it, who manipulates someone this way? Drake walked with a swagger back over to Edilio and swung his foot as hard as possible into his stomach.

"Squirm little puppet." Edilio flinched in pain but nothing was worse than the pain in his leg, the pain that was slowly numbing his whole body.

"Please!" Lana screamed. "I can't do this again, let me heal him!" But Lana couldn't get out of the grasp of the whip around her. Drake pointed the gun on Edilio's chest but he didn't notice and his screams drowned out all other sounds.

"Do what I say or your little Mexican will get it." Lana's eyes flashed with horror as Edilio ran out of energy, "It's Honduran." He whispered as he passed out from blood loss.

"Please, I'll do anything!" Lana screamed scrambling to free her hands. Drake threw her against the basement as she landed with her hands across Edilio's leg, tears streaming down her face. Why, what did she ever do? Why was Lana always the pawn; the one who always got hurt? Drake's tentacle wrapped around Edilio's chest this time, as he lay unconscious, his leg mostly healed.

"Help me…" Drake hissed with a voice that still wasn't his, "Or else." The tentacle squeezed tighter but then released its grip. Tears were streaming down Lana's face as she shakily got to her feet. Her legs were numb, face was numb, hands were numb, and Lana was honestly surprised when she actually healed Edilio.

"Bring back Nerezza, and your little Mexican will be safe."

"It's Honduran." Lana cursed under her breath.

* * *

Diana was close to crash landing on the docks of Perido Beach but Caine pulled up the sled at the last minute, forcing it to slow down and land on the dock.

"Caine? Caine Soren?" Caine jumped, not being used to human contact other than from Diana.

"Is that really you?"

"Caine?" A girl screamed in the other direction.

"Run." Caine whispered under his breath, not moving a muscle.

"What?" Diana looked up to meet his gaze. Caine flashed a smile that only he could have the confidence for at this time.

"This is where our adventure begins." Caine grabbed Diana's arm and started running the only direction possible, and where that led he had no idea.

* * *

Quinn stared in the direction of the two running figures, "Was that really Caine?" he whispered, not really wanting anyone to answer. He didn't want to see Caine again, any memories of him were the ones buried deep in his mind. Betraying Sam, seeing him thrown against a wall. Quinn, it was the name of a failure, until now. Finally, Quinn made a name for himself; he started the main food business. Fishing was the one thing Quinn was good at, the one success he was really ever known for. Even before the FAYZ, Sam was still school bus Sam, Astrid was still Astrid the genius, and Caine, he assumed was the most popular kid at the school. Evil and manipulative but it would be lying to say that you didn't want to be like him at first. Quinn finally had something going for him, and he wasn't going to let the thought of Caine returning ruin it,

"Caine and Diana, they, they were right here!"

"I bet he's going to try and-"

"Guys!" Quinn took charge; he was finally in a good place. "Nothing is there, stop worrying."

"Just start fishing. Quinn said again, in control of everything. He and probably everyone else there knew Caine was back, but why?

* * *

Seeing Edilio dangling from Drakes whip forced the tears to flow down her face as her brown hair lay in front to hide her face. She almost killed him once before and it wasn't about to happen again. Even if he was unconscious, he would live, Edilio would be invincible; he was the one that dealt with death, but couldn't die himself.

"Fine." Lana whispered, hardly making a sound at all.

"What was that?" Drake sung, enjoying every minute of it. A sick manipulated laugh, how was it even possible to get joy out of this?

"I said lets get this over with!" She screamed, not expecting the sound coming out of her mouth. All the rage, the rage of the past 7 and a half months coming out of her mouth like a tornado.

"Get it over with and leave me alone, for good! I'm not your peasant! I've seen what you are, I know what you were planning, but all I want to say is Nerezza failed!" Lana had no idea where she was getting all of this courage, the only thing that threatened her and she was verbally taking it…him…them down.

"It's not going to work! I saw what you were planning last time, and it failed, miserably. If I had offensive powers, I must say you would be- AAAHHHH" Lana's head was filled with burning coal. It felt like her brain was melting, a force she felt when trying to kill the Gaiaphage once before.

A voice, appearing in her head this time, answered her request.

_I created you, I gave you your powers, and I have a plan, so help contribute to the cause…_

"Says you!" Lana spat but as soon as the words escaped her mouth her head was again filled with extreme heat, the type that made the inside of her head burn. Burn to the point that it was melting, worse than the pain she endured trapped under the car when the FAYZ began.

Drake's human hand grabbed behind her neck. "Do it." Drake warned, "Or you'll be sorry." The burning in her head seized and Lana gave up.

"Fine." She whispered and held out her hands. She watched the green sparks fly off of Drake's arm and land on Lana's hands. She felt the power it held, and felt an indescribable force creep into her brain. Lana looked up at Edilio, still unconscious, before her vision was blurred.

The force that now controlled Lana reached her hands out and started on the ground, making their way to the top of a new creature, brilliantly glowing green. The only thing Lana could feel was the material being created under the hands that were no longer hers, while using the power that she didn't deserve. This substance felt more like skin than Drake's arm, but it wasn't human skin; it was never human skin. Lana couldn't help but continue to let the tears pour out of her eyes, surprised that she still had any left. They were the only thing that let her know that she still had some kind of control over her body. But it was false hope, it was always false hope. Hope that she could kill the Gaiaphage the first time was only a manipulated dream to drag her in, and force Lana to be prisoner. Beautiful black hair formed out of the head underneath Lana's hands. They were fading, and the green light was dying.

_Make me proud_

And the voice simply faded. Lana opened her eyes wide, realizing she had her own body back, maybe. She was weak, faint, like someone just sucked the life out of her, but then again isn't that what had happened? The Gaiaphage used the power it had to become Nerezza again, while sucking the power from Lana. Drake threw Edilio towards the other side of the room and walked over to Nerezza. Their eyes reflected each other, a brilliant green, and if Lana didn't know better she could be mesmerized by them. But Lana knew what lay behind their eyes, and the evil that came with it.

"I don't get it." Lana whispered, slightly afraid of how the two would respond; Lana was never afraid of Drake but she was afraid of the monster she had created from him.

"What?" Nerezza replied, not evil like the Darkness, and not snappy like Drake. It was sweet, like the beautiful girl she actually was. Girl, Lana almost laughed. Nerezza was the farthest thing from a girl.

"You died, failed…why you?" Lana was taking her chances; Nerezza didn't have the power the Gaiaphage had.

"But the mutants didn't. He created your powers, why not some of my own?" Her logic didn't make sense, jumping perspectives. But Lana didn't even have to ask.

Nerezza picked Lana up and held her in the air with one hand as she lifted the other slowly. Fire shot out in all directions, then changing to lasers, finishing with a wave of heat. When the room felt like it was going to burst she froze it, leaving it feel like it could snow. Lana couldn't move; that girl had Caine's power, Sam's power, Hunter's power, what else? She teleported across the room over to Drake and let Lana fall towards the floor.

_Heal yourself, and yeah, the Mexican is fine_

That made Lana jump, telepathic too? She could communicate like the Darkness, but only being telepathic could explain how Nerezza knew she was thinking about Edilio.

Drake's smile grew into a shark as his eyes returned to grey; the only scary part was that they made Nerezza's grow brighter, bigger. The mutants were the ones who survived for seven and a half months, and now Nerezza seemed unstoppable, superior, limitless.

* * *

Astrid turned around in a hurry, not wanting to face Sam. She trudged over to Pete and began to stroke his hair.

"Thanks Petey, you saved us; window seat Petey, window seat." Astrid knew that Sam had just said that that had bothered him, but she couldn't let down Pete. She needed to show some recognition. But then again, that's how most of this tension started.

"Astrid" Sam's voice was cold; he wanted to be anywhere but here. "If you want my brother to help, tell me one thing; where is he?"

A smile again faded from Astrid's face, "I…I don't…they left Coates, we know that." She whispered. Sam crushed her heart, but she still cared for him. The worst thing she could do right now was let him down, and that was exactly what she was doing.

"Pete" Sam said, more of a demand, as he finally got up and made his way towards the little boy. "Take us to Caine." And in an instant, they appeared on the edge of the beach, about a mile away from the fishing docks. Sam looked up and saw two figures running in the opposite direction. It was odd, they looked almost healthy, fit, not emaciated like most of the kids these days.

Astrid stared, eyes wide, "Petey?" Why hadn't he listened to her? Sam just smirked in a way that showed Astrid that he indeed still want to be her friend.

"I guess I'm not the favorite." She was sarcastic, but had some sincerity to her tone. Without missing a beat Pete grabbed her hand as they started running towards the figures.

"Caine!" Sam yelled, waiting for the inevitable, seeing his brother again was not on the top of his list, but for some reason it gave him hope.

Caine jumped at the sound of his name. He looked over to see Diana staring at him with eyes wide.

"Keep running." He gasped under his breath, they needed to get away, away from anyone who would want the couple dead; they needed to formulate a plan.

"We're not going to hurt you!" It was Astrid's voice; Sam, Astrid, and probably her little brother. The last time he saw Sam was when they tried to defeat the darkness, but even though they were on the same side once defiantly did not mean they were friends.

"I don't trust her for one second." Diana whispered towards Caine, picking up the pace. Caine stopped short forcing Diana to fly up ahead.

"What are you doing!" Diana growled at him, was he trying to get them killed?

"I can hold them!" Caine answered defiantly; he defiantly had more of his old self, but maybe that was just determination speaking for him.

"They can tell us where Lana is!" Caine didn't care if Lana hated him too, she would be on their side for this.

Caine turned around in a heartbeat and held up his hands. Sam, Astrid, and Pete were held in place, not that they were really worried by it.

"We just want to talk." Astrid reassured them.

"Talk about our assassination!" Diana never liked Astrid, and she knew that Astrid hated Caine as much as anyone, especially after all that Drake did to her.

"Actually…" Astrid whispered, a little more timidly now, "Assassinations are only declared for people who are famous and have positions of power, like presidents." Diana rolled her eyes; Astrid still simply wanted to come off as, well, a genius.

"We forgot to tell you…"The only way for Diana to deal with people like this was with sarcasm and starky remarks. "We got out of the FAYZ, became dictators of the world, and successfully returned; yeah everyone would be pretty upset if we died."

"You guys look so good, where did you go?" Sam questioned, not believing it, the last time he saw Diana was when she had a giant gash in her head from Drake, but to top it off she was practically dying from starvation. Her hair had grown back and Diana was as beautiful as ever; a refreshing face in the FAYZ.

"Enough with the comfy hellos'" Diana obviously wanted to get this over with.

"Where's Lana?" Caine was confident; some times getting your life back on a deserted island can do that to some people. Restored, but not fully; the Darkness was still there.

"That's actually part of why we're here." Sam confessed.

Diana wasn't buying it, "Let me get this straight, you're telling me that you were looking for _us_ the ones who turned off the power and almost killed you, to find Lana?" Caine let out a controlled laugh.

"They need us Diana, watch them crawl." Caine tossed the three on the ground and Astrid scrambled to make sure Pete was safe. Diana flinched and suppressed a grimace.

Sam let go of the steam that was building inside of him. "We're all pretty messed up here." He confessed "But we all want to get out and to stop Drake we need help, we need someone as dark, sick, and manipulative as you." Those words were music to Caine's ears.

Diana put her head down and pretended to be examining her nails. She didn't want anyone to see how hurt she felt inside. Throughout the FAYZ she was having one train wreck after another letting out her emotions. She didn't want anyone to know that she truly, deeply hoped that Caine wouldn't abuse this; she didn't want him with this power.

* * *

Casey kept running at full speed because she knew what Zil was capable of. It didn't bother her that Lance was part of the human crew, but Casey knew why. She had heard his thoughts. She knew that he wasn't evil; that it was Zil who actually put forth the plans. It was Antione who created them. It was Zil who was the true leader, and he would do anything Lance said. Casey could hear what he had said. Sometimes Casey wished she never had this power because some things were too graphic to hear. It was always an adventure when she walked past Sam and Astrid. Sam's wandering eyes but Astrid was in a different land talking to her brother. But her brother, something about him, his thoughts were in depth and she always wanted more. It was like crack, she tried to be in "thinking" distance as much as possible. She would see worlds of color, inside of the FAYZ, outside of the FAYZ, and this force. A glowing green light tried to penetrate his mind, but it was never successful. Each day the light would grow brighter. Some days Pete would look at her; he knew. Not many people knew about Casey's power, but Pete knew; he knew everything. Pete would brighten up, look into her eyes and whisper into her mind

_It's okay; you are safe_

But Casey knew it was only for a short period of time. This thing was getting stronger, but Pete had kept it under control. For now, anyway. She wanted to know more, needed more, it fed her addiction. This thing, it had significance, Casey knew that, but before she could enter his mind, the boy's eyes would gloss over and he would walk further away from his sister. Casey would try and listen but his mind would be empty, buzzing like his mind had been turned off. That or rather he turned it off, there was too much to go through his head.

Casey looked up and realized she was walking now; Zil wasn't going to go after her. She knew that he didn't know she was a mutant. He was simply just jealous that she was with Lance. Zil hadn't even caught on, and they have been together for two months. She had always heard the worry in Lance's thoughts. What would happen if Zil found out? Lance was sweet, but he didn't even know Casey was a mutant until a month after they were dating. Lance is forgiving, and he didn't care. Being a part of the human crew was something that kept him going. Without it, he would just be another lost soul in the FAYZ. Without Lance, Casey didn't know how much longer she could have gone. At least now she had something to live for.

Casey stopped short, something was there. Someone was at her house, but she was too far away to tell who it was.

_Her…my…house with…and Zil…wants…kill_

Casey's heart started pounding, Zil wanted to kill her? Or worse, he saw _her_ at his house with Lance and killed Lance? Who was this voice? Casey started sprinting at a pace she never thought she could before. She needed to know what happened, it may sound cliché but Lance was the only thing that kept her going. She stopped to see Howard Bassem at her doorstep talking to her roommate. What did he want?

"Speak of the devil." He said to Lesley, another mutant who shared this house with Casey.

"Casey, you never told me you-" Howard shoved his hand in her face.

"Your boyfriends made a little trip to my bro's house." Howard defiantly wanted something. Maybe information, maybe beer, maybe something worse.

"I don't know what-" Howard slapped Casey across the face.

"You know what I'm talking about." He stepped away from the steps leading up to the house.

"Your boys are at my house; seeing Orc. They want to get Drake back. Sure is a shame that Sammy and his friends already let him free."

Casey's eyes grew wide. Free? Drake? His thoughts were wrong, morally and ethically wrong. They were thoughts she wish she could remove from her memory. They were too graphic, too filled with hate, too filled with death, and exactly why he was held prisoner in Orc's basement.

"He wants Nerezza, he wants to use her to kill, and he wants to be the ruler." Howard talked like he had a plan, like he wanted Casey to think there was something she could do.

"What am I supposed to do?" Casey didn't want to give anything to Howard. He was manipulative, but something was blocking his thoughts. Maybe he just had swagger.

"I know about your little mutant power; and it'll come with a cost." Those words were the ones every person in the FAYZ had heard from Howard. But Casey never thought she would hear them herself.

_Time to make a deal with the devil._

Howard shared her thoughts exactly.

**thank you so much for reading, please review, its why i keep posting**

**review, private message, whatever, tell me what you think, until next time**

**-Lindsey**


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